Iran launches rocket capable of carrying satellite

Iran said it had successfully launched a rocket capable of carrying a
satellite into orbit, a move that could further exacerbate tensions with the
West over its nuclear drive.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspects the Safir rocket prior to its launch. Iran hopes to launch four more satellites by 2010Photo: AFP/GETTY

By Our Foreign Staff

6:18PM BST 17 Aug 2008

A top Iranian official corrected earlier reports by Iranian state media that a satellite had been sent into orbit, explaining that only a rocket had been launched.

According to state media, Saturday's test of the two-stage rocket, called the Safir, or Ambassador, was successful, as it broadcast footage of the night-time launch.

State TV said the Omid research satellite will gather atmospheric data from a low orbit but did not give a date for its launch.

Saturday's launch comes amid a standoff between Iran and the international community over Tehran's refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear work - which some Western countries fear could be used to make an atomic bomb.

The White House today described the announcement from Iran as "troubling" because such technology could also be used for ballistic missiles.

Iran sparked international concern in February by testing the rocket designed to carry the satellite.

The United States were swift to condemn the February launch as "just another troubling development," saying it was a cause for concern about Iran's continuing development of medium- and long-range missiles.

At the time, Mohsen Mir Shams, the deputy head of Iran's space organisation, said the satellite would be put into orbit at a altitude of 650 kilometres (400 miles) above the earth, passing over Iran six times every 24 hours.

Iran has pursued a space programme for several years, and in October 2005 a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit by a Russian rocket.

Yet despite the anxiety over Iran's space program, it is not exactly clear how developed it is.

Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications. Iranian officials also point to America's use of satellites to monitor Afghanistan and Iraq and say they need similar abilities for their security.

Iran has claimed that it had increased the range of its warplanes, allowing them to fly as far as Israel and back without refuelling.

State TV quoted Air Force Chief General. Ahmad Mighani as saying that Iranian warplanes can now fly 3,000 kilometers (1,865 miles) without refuelling. He didn't specify the aircraft type or explain how the range was extended.

Israel is about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Iran.

Such a range could be achieved by using external fuel tanks attached to the wings or fuselage that can be released when empty.

Sunday's report did not refer to Israel by name, but Mighani's remarks come after an Israeli air exercise in June that U.S. officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.